Brace in 1st-round mentality

Tuesday

Feb 24, 2009 at 6:00 AM

By Chad Garner TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

Ron Brace’s workout at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis didn’t go quite according to plan.

The hulking, 6-foot-3, 330-pound defensive tackle from Boston College, and former Burncoat High star, wasn’t overly impressed with his combine results yesterday — in particular his 40-yard dash time of “5.4-something.”

“It was horrible to me,” Brace said by telephone last night from Atlanta.

According to Brace, his worst time ever in the 40 was 5.2 seconds.

“I think I was less prepared for the combine than I thought going in,” he said. “I thought I was going to kill it. I think I can do a lot better.”

However, Brace was a top performer in the bench press, displaying brute strength by tossing up 225 pounds 32 times, which ranked sixth among all defensive linemen.

Brace will get another chance to dazzle NFL coaches and scouts — if they weren’t impressed yesterday — at his Pro Day March 12 at Boston College.

“I’ve got to show them that I’m better than that,” said Brace, who is ranked the fourth-best defensive tackle in the draft, according to Mike Mayock of the NFL Network. “I don’t think my stock went down, but I’m a competitive person. I think the film shows what I can do.”

The combine, which many experts consider a four-day job interview for NFL hopefuls, tests the skill of players in the 40-yard dash, bench press, vertical jump, broad jump, three-cone drill, and shuttle run, along with position-specific drills. The evaluation process also features medical exams, psychological tests, and interviews with personnel from among all NFL teams.

Needless to say, it’s a grueling process for these college players who eventually hope to make a living playing in the NFL.

“It was a lot more stressful than I thought it was going to be,” admitted Brace, who thought he did the best in the face-to-face interviews that he had with 14 of the 32 teams.

“The meetings with the coaches were all good,” he said. “They test your football knowledge. They get a chance to know you.”

While Brace didn’t meet with Patriots’ brass, he thought he aced his sit-down with the Indianapolis Colts.

“I had a good talk with the Colts,” he said. “I like the way they go about their business. I got a good vibe with them.”

On the NFL Network ticker, Mayock described Brace as a “gifted run defender… (with) limited pass-rush ability.”

Brace’s scouting report on himself: “I’m aggressive and I run to the ball. I think I need to work on the pass rush, hand technique, but I’m an effective player.”

So, while the draft experts have him going anywhere from the second to fourth round, Brace’s competitive nature still has him believing he’s a first-rounder.

“I do,” he said. “For what a lot of teams need, I know I can deliver. I believe I can help them.”

Brace said any team that decides to pass him up better watch out.

“They don’t know how competitive I am,” he said. “Any team that bypasses me, when I finally get a chance to play them, I’ll let them know (on the field) that they made a mistake.”